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A Study on the Christian Counselling for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

  • Journal of Counseling and Gospel
  • Abbr : Jocag
  • 2014, 22(1), pp.290-322
  • DOI : 10.17841/jocag.2014.22.1.290
  • Publisher : Korean Evangelical Counseling Society
  • Research Area : Humanities > Christian Theology > Pastoral Counseling
  • Received : April 19, 2014
  • Accepted : May 9, 2014

Min Young Choi 1 RHEE EUNNIE RAN 2

1횃불트리니티 신학대학원대학교
2횃불트리니티신학대학원대학교

Candidate

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study is to help the obsessive-compulsive disorder(OCD) clients obtain the true freedom which the Gospel can give and set them free from a distressful yoke of obsessions and compulsions and to present a Christian coping plan to Christian counselors who will meet OCD clients by providing the Christian understanding of OCD and the possibility of Christian therapeutic application of OCD. This study consists of five dimensions: a review of research literatures concernig OCD, a general overview and description of OCD, a summary of symptoms of religious OCD, introduction of a primary OCD treatment approach, and one case study in which one of the researchers treated an OCD client in a Christian manner. Previous research is divided mostly into four parts. They are about OCD etiology, OCD comorbidity, OCD treatment approach and religious OCD. First, the definate etiology of OCD remains unknown yet. Some researchers study the etiology of OCD in neurobiological aspect and other researchers in psychological aspect. Concerning the comorbidity, OCD is reported to be comorbid with personality disorders including borderline personality disorders, avoidant personality disorders and histrionic personality disorders. Next, OCD treatment approach is divided into two areas. One is medications which play an important role in the treatment of OCD. The other OCD treatment is exposure-response prevention(ERP) which is psychological intervention which is best-tested. Lastly, research on religious OCD is done. Research examines primarily the relationship between OCD and religious faith and scrupulosity in OCD clients. In second dimension, we present the general concept of OCD. OCD is defined in DSM-5 as obsessional thoughts and/or compulsive actions. “Obsessions are recurrent and persistent thoughts, urges, or images that are experienced as intrusive and unwanted, whereas compulsions are repetitive behaviors or mental acts that an individual feels driven to perform in response to an obsession or according to rules that must be applied rigidly”(DSM-5). An international group of researchers proposed six domains of cognition relevant to current cognitive-behavioral formulations of OCD. They are inflated responsibility, overimportance of intrusive thoughts, overimportance of controlling one’s thoughts, overestimation of threat, intolerance of uncertainty and perfectionism. OCD symptoms related to religion include intrusive blasphemous thoughts, obscenities related to religious figures, and thoughts about joining the devil and going to hell. Compulsions include repetitive prayer as a route to cope, seeking reassurance from others and treating religious symbols with excessive care. As therapeutic techniques, we introduce ERP, the central treatment of Behavioral Therapy. ERP includes exposure exercises and response prevention. Exposure exercises involves real-life or imaginal contact with anxiety evoking stimuli. Response prevention encourages OCD clients to block or delay compulsive rituals after performing exposure exercises. Some cognitive strategies of Cognitive Therapy are mentioned very briefly as well. Finally we add one case study, in which an OCD client is treated by applying ERP and Cogntive Therapy in a Christian way. He is taught that what he thinks is uncontrollable and intrusive, and he can’t do anything about it. He learns to refer responsibility of his thoughts to God. Instead of praying for forgiveness, he prays to know and experience God Himself.

Citation status

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